Apron Having Elastic Waist and Zip Closure

ABSTRACT

An hands-free, string-less apron is provided, comprising upper and lower sections constructed from a flexible material, such as a fabric or plastic material. The upper section includes a neck strap for resting behind the neck of a wearer, and the upper section is intended to cover the abdomen of the wearer. The lower section is attached to the upper section, and the upper and lower sections are separated by an elastic waist band extending along the top edge of the lower section. The lower section completely surrounds the waist and legs of the wearer when in a closed configuration. The lower section includes a closure device, such as zipper, extending substantially vertically between the elastic waist band and the bottom edge of the lower section. Optionally, a snap fastener is also located on the waist band to assist in closing the apron around the wearer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of design patent applicationSer. No. 29/395,273, filed Dec. 27, 2011.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to aprons used to protect a wearer'sunderlying clothing, and more particularly to aprons which provide acontinuous protective layer around the periphery of the wearer.

2. Description of Related Art

The basic concept of an apron is well known, as evidenced by numerouspatents and products which attempt to address the problem of clothingprotection. In most cases, a large section of fabric is positioned infront of the wearer, covering the chest and torso, as well as the waistand legs. The apron is typically suspended on the body of the wearer bya strap which is disposed around the back of the wearer's neck. The opensides of the apron are gathered around the back of the wearer, andsecured around the waist by a pair of strings or straps which are tied.While this arrangement can be effective for many purposes, there are anumber of deficiences which become apparent, particularly when worn incertain industrial environments.

For example, the use of strings to tie the open sides of the apron canpresent a dangerous risk to the wearer. Strings dangling from the aproncan easily be caught in moving or rotating machinery, especially in foodproduction facilities like meat processing, bakeries, and the like.Also, the basic apron design necessarily results in an open area behindthe wearer where the two sides do not fully close. This open areaexposes the seat and legs of the wearer to undesireable substances,including food products, grease, cleaning solutions, and similarmaterials that should never contact the wearer's skin or clothing.Moreover, the skin or clothing of the wearer should never come intocontact with tools, utensils, surfaces, food, and other sensitivematerial in the work environment whose cleanliness or purity must bemaintained for quality or safety reasons. Finally, because suchconventional aprons often become loose on the wearer, there is afrequent need to untie and retie the strings on the apron to secure iton the wearer. Over the course of a typical work day, such re-tyingoperation may happen 10-15 times. Of course, such handling requiresmanual contact with the fabric strings which may have absorbed food orindustrial chemicals, further resulting in possible cross-contminationbetween the wearer and the surrounding work envionment.

What is needed is an apron that is hands-free and string-less apronwhich provides a more safe and sanitary alternative to the traditionalapron, particularly when used in food service or other similarindustrial environments. A wrap-around and closeable lower section whichcompletely surrounds the wearer's legs would minimize soiling ofunderlying clothing and prevent unwanted contamination. Moreover, theabsence of a fastening string or strap removes the risks that suchstring or strap may become entangled in machinery or contacted bysubstances that would otherwise be harmful or undersirable to the weareror consumers of the products being handled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an apron constructed from a flexible material is provided,comprising an upper section shaped and dimensioned to substantiallycover the abdomen of a wearer, a lower section operatively attached tothe upper section, wherein the lower section has a bottom edge extendingbelow the knees of a wearer, and wherein the lower section is shaped anddimensioned to completely surround the waist and legs of the wearer whenin a closed configuration; an elastic waist band connected between theupper section and the lower section, wherein the elastic waist bandcompletely surrounds the waist of the wearer when in a closeconfiguration; a neck strap extending from the upper section adapted torest behind the neck of the wearer; and a closure device extendingsubstantially vertically between the elastic waist band and the bottomedge, wherein the closure device is adapted to close the lower section.

The apron preferably includes a fastener on the elastic waist bandadapted to close the elastic waist band, wherein the fastener may be asnap device.

In a preferred embodiment, the elastic waist band is an elastic fabricstitched between the upper section and the lower section.

Preferably, the closure device is a zipper.

The flexible material may be a fabric, preferably water repellent, or aplastic sheeting material.

The above and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the drawings, the description given herein, and theappended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages ofthe present invention, reference should be had to the following detaileddescription, read in conjunction with the following drawings, whereinlike reference numerals denote like elements.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the apron in a preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the apron of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before the subject invention is further described, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the particularembodiments of the invention described below, as variations of theparticular embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope ofthe appended claims. It is also to be understood that the terminologyemployed is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and isnot intended to be limiting. Instead, the scope of the present inventionwill be established by the appended claims.

In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,”“an,” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical andscientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonlyunderstood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventionbelongs.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1, a hands-free,string-less apron 1 is provided, comprising an upper section 2 and alower section 3, both constructed from a flexible material, such as afabric or plastic material. Preferably, if the flexible material is afabric, it is treated with a water repellant compound to prevent orminimize absorption of undesirable substances.

The upper section 2 includes a neck strap 4 for resting behind the neckof a wearer, and the upper section 2 is intended to substantially coverthe abdomen of the wearer. The lower section 3 is attached to the uppersection 2, and the upper and lower sections 2, 3 are separated by anelastic waist band 5 extending along the top edge of the lower section.Preferably, the elastic waist band 5 is an elastic fabric stitchedbetween the upper section 2 and the lower section 3. Alternatively, theelastic waist band 5 is an elastic band which resides within an enclosedchannel of fabric loosely sewn around the band. As will be appreciated,the elastic waist band 5 serves to keep the apron 1 secured around thewearer, and allows the apron 1 to comfortably fit a wide range of waistsizes.

The lower section 3 completely surrounds the waist and legs of thewearer when in a closed configuration. The lower section 3 includes aclosure device 6, such as zipper, extending substantially verticallybetween the elastic waist band 5 and the bottom edge 7 of the lowersection 3. Optionally, a snap fastener 8 is also located on the waistband 5 to assist in closing the apron 1 around the wearer. As indicatedabove, the lack of tying strings results in an apron that is essentiallyhands-free and string-less, because it does not require successivere-tying over the course of the work day. The absence of a fasteningstring or strap removes the risks that such string or strap may becomeentangled in machinery, which could result in damage to the wearer andequipment. The wrap-around and closeable lower section which completelysurrounds the wearer's legs minimizes soiling of underlying clothing andprevents contamination. Thus, the invention described herein provides amore safe and sanitary alternative to the traditional apron,particularly when used in food service or other similar industrialenvironments.

All references cited in this specification are herein incorporated byreference as though each reference was specifically and individuallyindicated to be incorporated by reference. The citation of any referenceis for its disclosure prior to the filing date and should not beconstrued as an admission that the present invention is not entitled toantedate such reference by virtue of prior invention.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together may also find a useful application in other types ofmethods differing from the type described above. Without furtheranalysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the presentinvention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adaptit for various applications without omitting features that, from thestandpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics ofthe generic or specific aspects of this invention set forth in theappended claims. The foregoing embodiments are presented by way ofexample only, and the scope of the present invention is to be limitedonly by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apron constructed from a flexiblematerial, comprising: (a) an upper section shaped and dimensioned tosubstantially cover the abdomen of a wearer, (b) a lower sectionoperatively attached to the upper section, wherein the lower section hasa bottom edge extending below the knees of a wearer, and wherein thelower section is shaped and dimensioned to completely surround the waistand legs of the wearer when in a closed configuration; (c) an elasticwaist band connected between the upper section and the lower section,wherein the elastic waist band completely surrounds the waist of thewearer when in a close configuration; (d) a neck strap extending fromthe upper section adapted to rest behind the neck of the wearer; and (e)a closure device extending substantially vertically between the elasticwaist band and the bottom edge, wherein the closure device is adapted toclose the lower section.
 2. The apron of claim 1, further including afastener on the elastic waist band adapted to close the elastic waistband.
 3. The apron of claim 2, wherein the fastener is a snap device. 4.The apron of claim 1, wherein the elastic waist band is an elasticfabric stitched between the upper section and the lower section.
 5. Theapron of claim 1, wherein the closure device is a zipper.
 6. The apronof claim 1, wherein the flexible material is a fabric.
 7. The apron ofclaim 6, wherein the fabric is water repellent.
 8. The apron of claim 1,wherein the flexible material is a plastic sheeting material.